The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.

Victims never receive this non-existent fortune but are tricked into sending their money to the criminals, who remain anonymous. They hide their real identity and location by using fake names and fake postal addresses as well as communicating via anonymous free email accounts and mobile phones.

Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!

This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.

goeeeadams@yahoo.co.jp (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

My name is Mr. George Adams, a Chief Accountant working with a Commercial Bank here in Abidjan Ivory Coast. I'm contacting you for a business deal to present you as the next of kin to one Mr. Bouchout Geoffroy our deceased client so that the proceeds of his account with our Bank amounting to ($ 19million US dollars) can be paid to you and then you and I will share the money. I know that you will be surprised to receive this message since we have not met before, however this the only way I can contact you at this moment due to the nature of this deal.

We shall know ourselves better as soon as you indicate interest to work with me. I just want you to know that I have had everything planned out so that we shall come out successful, all I require is your honest co-operation to enable us see this deal through. I guarantee that this deal will be executed under all legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law. Late Mr. Bouchout Geoffroy is a Swizerland business man based here in my country. He use to supply goods to most of the Oil servicing company here in my country before he got a contract with the Kellogg Brown & Root, a subsidiary of the Houston-based oil company Halliburton in Swiss in .1995

Before his death he made a numbered fixed deposit for years, with a value of (Nineteen million United States Dollars) in my branch. Upon maturity in 1990, several notices were sent to him, even during the crises in swizerland last year. Early this year another notification was sent and still no response came from him. We later found out that he was among the passenger during the plan crach since 2nd of September 1998. According a reliable information I gather by myself, he was in a five-vehicle convoy with with some of the oil workers traveling from Baghdad when their car hit an improvised device.

The facts is that Mr. BOUCHOUT GEOFFROY was with me when he made the deposit, as a matter facts no one except me has the details of his deposit in our bank. So, the $ 19,000,000.00 (Nineteen million United States Dollars) is still lying in our bank, and no one will ever come forward to claim it. What bothers me most is that according to the laws of my country, at the expiration of 2010 the funds will be reverted to the ownership of the Ivory Coast government, if nobody come up as the deceased next of kin to claim the funds. Against this backdrop, my suggestion to you is that I will like you as a foreigner to stand as his next of kin.